Lithium treatment could slow progression of memory loss

Embargoed until 28 April 2011

Lithium treatment helps slow the progression of memory loss,
according to new
research published in the May issue of the British Journal
of Psychiatry. The finding raises the possibility that lithium
could one day be used to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers from the University of Sao Paulo,
Brazil, carried out a small-scale study with 41 people. All the
participants were over the age of 60 and had been diagnosed with
mild cognitive impairment. 21 of the patients took low-doses of
lithium every day for a year. The other 20 participants took a
placebo or ‘dummy’ pill. All participants underwent tests of their
memory and attention. They also gave a sample of their
cerebrospinal fluid, which was tested for phospho-tau
concentrations – a biomarker for Alzheimer’s
disease.

After 12 months, the researchers found that
all the participants experienced a decline in their memory and
cognitive functioning. However, the decline was significantly
smaller in the group treated with lithium than in the placebo
group. Lithium treatment was also associated with a significant
decrease in concentrations of phospho-tau in people’s cerebrospinal
fluid.

Lithium treatment was not associated with any
major side effects. People in both the lithium and placebo groups
reported a similar number of side-effects, most of which were mild
and only lasted for a short period.

Dr Orestes Forlenza, who led the research,
said: “We found that lithium treatment reduced people’s cognitive
decline. The people who received lithium treatment for a year
performed better on the memory and attention tasks than those who
had taken the placebo.

“This study supports the idea that giving
lithium to a person who is at risk of Alzheimer’s disease may have
a protective effect, and slow down the progression of memory loss
to dementia. Although our study has a relatively small sample size,
we believe our results are promising and point to a need for
further trials with larger numbers of participants.”

Professor Allan Young, a psychiatrist from
Imperial College London, has welcomed the research. Writing in
an editorial in the same issue of the British Journal of
Psychiatry, Professor Young said: “Clearly this trial is
encouraging and the effects of lithium on cognition and Alzheimer’s
disease biomarkers are very suggestive of likely benefit. This
trial adds to the increasing evidence that lithium may have
beneficial effects on the brain and begs to be replicated in
further randomised trials.”

In his editorial, Professor Allan has called
on government and charitable organisations to take the lead in
funding these trials. Professor Allan said: “The pharmaceutical
industry is clearly very much focused on developing treatments for
dementia...If such treatments were to be given to large numbers of
at-risk individuals for prolonged periods of time, the commercial
rewards to those owning the patents for such treatments are likely
to be very considerable.

“Lithium, of course, is under no patent and will not attract
industry funds for further development as a treatment except
perhaps as a comparator to commercial compounds or possibly in
combination with another agent. The onus is therefore on
governmental and charitable funding agencies. Such trials will not
be cheap but, were they to prove positive, the possible benefits in
health to our ever-ageing population would be beyond any such
price.”